Source: Northern_Echo
Two-goal Hatch pledges to be fit for second leg of FA Trophy
DARLINGTON striker Liam Hatch believes his side's remarkable comeback against Gateshead has given them the psychological edge to go on and win a place in the FA Trophy final at Wembley.[LNB] Hatch scored twice in the last 15 minutes of a thrilling encounter to give Quakers the upper hand heading into next Saturday's semi-final second-leg.[LNB] Worryingly for Quakers, Hatch limped off in the 86th minute after over-stretching in an attempt to keep the ball in play but the striker insisted he will be fine for the next game.[LNB] "I'm in a little bit of pain," Hatch explained.[LNB] "I got my knee caught in the turf and my body carried on with the momentum, which jarred my back into spasm. But I've got some tablets so I should be okay.[LNB] "I'll be fine for next week. I'm just a bit sore but hopefully the pain will wear off in the next couple of days."[LNB] After a poor first-half, which saw the Heed score twice, Mark Cooper's men looked down and out.[LNB] But the 28-year-old striker revealed a rallying call in the dressing room at half-time gave his side the wake-up call they needed.[LNB] "I thought we came out and started very well in the first ten minutes. We had a goal disallowed for offside, which I thought was I bit harsh. We went two goals behind but we came in at half-time and knew we had to fight for everything," the former Luton striker said.[LNB] "The boys knew we had to get back into the game. We came in at half-time, everybody got together and rallied around and we knew we had to put in a performance in the second-half to make sure we stood a chance in the second-leg.[LNB] "We're obviously going to get together and regroup this week and make sure we're ready for the game next week.[LNB] "We know it's going to be tough but we're one goal up and 90 minutes away from Wembley and that's a great incentive.[LNB] "If somebody said to you that you're 90 minutes from a Wembley final and a goal up you'd definitely take that.[LNB] "We know there's still a way to go and we have to go and play a good Gateshead side. They scored two against us so we know what they can do but we also know we can score against them."[LNB] After Marc Bridge-Wilkinson had nicked a goal back, Hatch struck twice in quick succession to complete an amazing turnaround.[LNB] His first came in the 76th minute, when he headed in Aaron Brown's curling free-kick from the right, before a defensive mistake allowed him through to slot the ball past Heed keeper Paul Farman for his second.[LNB] "I don't remember much of Bridgey's goal," Hatch said.[LNB] "Somebody caught me on the ankle and I was down. I got up and saw the celebrations going on and just got back to the halfway line knowing we needed to push on for another goal.[LNB] "Aaron Brown put in a great ball and I managed to get my head on it and flick it into the top corner. From then we carried on pushing, knowing we could get the third.[LNB] "The centre-back missed the ball and I took a good touch and managed to slide it past the keeper, which was good for me."[LNB]
